Early spring

Spring seems to have sprung here in the Northeast, earlier than usual. While I am delighted to feel the waking up in the land and in myself, I am also struggling with the knowledge of the impact we have had on our environment, and the challenges that this shift creates for ourselves and for our non-human community.

This is the balance--holding these two things together, feeling joy and sorrow at the same time. The essence of Shamanism is relationship: relationship with the world around us, relationship with our spirits, but also relationship with ourselves. I talk a lot about our capacity to hold power (as my own teacher does), and I am recognizing that part of that capacity involves capacity to hold deep feelings. In a circle I attended last night, I was struck by how, when we all journeyed on the same question, we all came back with messages on the importance of love. On the other side of deep feeling, we can let love flow--love for the humans around us, love for our environment, love and gratitude for our our helping spirits, and love and compassion for ourselves.

I invite you to take a moment to send love and gratitude to the world around you. This is relationship, this is the essence of what we do.

Moving too quickly

We are fully in swing with renovations in our new space. It's an overwhelming process, and has left me with less time for myself than I am use to having. I notice than when I am overwhelmed or when I have less time, I tend to spend less time with my own spiritual practice. I think that this is a product of our "pedal to the metal" culture--anything that doesn't seem "productive" takes a back seat. I have noticed this before, and have learned a great deal from it. However, I try to honor the teachings of my spirits by internalizing their teachings, so I do not have to learn things the hard way more than once.

So this month, I have put effort into reversing that effect. While personal shamanic practice may not produce anything tangible, when we walk this path, it is the foundation of everything else that we do. In that sense, it is as essential as eating, or sleeping, or even breathing.

Consider for yourself if winter has caused you to step back from what is essential for you, whether due to the business of the season, or a need in yourself to have more rest and less activity.

I do not typically teach in the winter, and I have kept to that this year. For me, restarting my teaching schedule in the early spring is its own kind of rededication. I invite you to join me in that--whether it's through joining circles, continuing your training, starting on this path for the first time, or attending to your own personal healing.

Notice the days getting a little longer, notice the shoots when the begin to poke up through the snow. Allow yourself to reawaken. I look forward to seeing you in the spring.

Working with nature

I hope the summer months are finding you well. This picture is taken at Buttermilk Falls in Ludlow, VT. I have visited Ludlow all my life, and have worked there in the winters for 23 years. In the middle of this month, my little town was cut off from all directions, and within town, many roads areas were inaccessible, including my house and the road to this very special waterfall. There has never been a more important time for us to learn to work with our planet, and to recognize our own interconnectedness. At the FSS, we address this topic in myriad ways, some overt and some more subtle. I am offering the Shamanism and Spirits of Nature workshop this August, and this is one of the most direct and powerful times that we learn to work with and listen to nature. I hope you'll join me, if not in this program, in talking to our planet and listening to what the nature spirits have to teach us.